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she was helpless to resist. Juliette was certain she struggled, but he
was like iron, her softer body battering itself against his hard one, and he
didn't seem to notice. She felt the strength growing in him, spreading through
him, even as her own strength seemed to slide away from her. There was a part of
her that seemed to be separate, standing apart, watching and feeling in a kind
of horror. There was fire in her blood, moving through her body, muscles
clenching, tightening, going boneless, pliant in his ironlike grip.
    Riordan glanced up at the camera trained on him, his mouth twisting in a
humorless smile, flashing his white teeth. With his eyes staring straight at the
lens, he lowered his head and stroked a caress across the pinpricks on her neck
with his tongue. That look would tell them everything. He knew each of them,
knew their scent; he knew his enemies. Their stench was in his very lungs, and
he was a hunter. He had gone from prey to predator with one small infusion of
blood. It wasn't enough to completely heal him, but it was enough to allow his
escape.
    He lifted the woman's limp body easily to his shoulder, moving with a
graceful show of strength. He had every intention of drawing his enemies to him
and away from his family. But first he would destroy everything they had built
out in the jungle. They hid their laboratory away from prying eyes. They hid
their hideous torture chamber deep within the jungle, thinking they were far
from the law, far from justice, but he would show them who owned this part of
the world, who had owned it for a long, long time.
    The woman erupted into a wild struggle, attempting to squirm away from him.
    Riordan tightened his hold on her. "Stop it," he ordered. "You have no way to
escape. It is impossible. Lie still." His voice was a soft, menacing command.
    Juliette lay quietly, feeling the enormous strength in his arms. She fought
down her panic, trying desperately to think. Her body had become lead. It was an
effort to lift her arm, make a fist, pound on his back. She was dizzy and sick.
His emotions were swamping her, a wild swirling of dark danger beating at her.
She had never come close to feeling such overwhelming emotions. They welled up
like a volcano, explosive, violent, very intense. She sensed something wild and
untamed, a predator without equal. Her neck throbbed and burned and she wondered
what manner of demon she had unleashed.
    She actually felt the strength gathering in him.
Felt
it. A seething
cauldron of enormous power. It built in him and seemed to spill out of him, out
of his pores, bursting from his masculine body so that the building frame shook
and creaked ominously, until the very air was so filled, the walls actually
bulged outward in an attempt to contain such power. Juliette clutched at the
tattered remains of his shirt, her fist bunching the material in her palm,
needing something, anything to hang on to.
    "My sister might be in here." She managed to whisper the words, terrified
Jasmine would be caught in the massive destruction of cement and mortar.
    "No one is in the building but us," he assured. He moved then, his speed so
incredible everything around her blurred. Juliette squeezed her eyes shut
tightly to prevent the dizziness from overcoming her. Her stomach lurched and
she clung grimly. She could feel the powerful muscles bunching beneath her, the
rush of air over her body. She could have sworn at one point they left the
ground, moving through space so quickly they were flying.

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Chapter 2
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    FEAR amounting to terror tore at Juliette. She had no idea what she was
dealing with, but he was a powerful predator and from the condition she found
him in, his anger was justified. She could feel a controlled rage simmering deep
within him. Shockingly, they seemed linked together, she feeling his emotions,
he feeling hers. She summoned her courage, her eyes still held tightly shut to
keep dizziness at